Goa - Part 1 - Exploring Vasco, Port City of Goa
I have been visiting Goa almost every year since my childhood since we have our Kuldevata temples in Goa and have explored some beaches along with old Goa Churches too. But this time, I had planned my trip with an intention of exploring some offbeat places and to let people know that there is so much see in Goa beyond beaches. I had planned a week long itinerary and we started our exploration with Vasco city.
Vasco da Gama also commonly known as Vasco is a city in Goa named after the Portuguese Explorer Vasco Da Gama. This is one of the oldest towns of Goa and used to be an important Port during the Portuguese reign.
We had booked our stay at La-Paz Gardens Beacon for 2 nights and I must say this is the property if you want to explore Vasco all by yourself since this is located at the heart of the city. All important transport links – Vasco Railway Station, KTC bus stand, Auto/taxi stand all are at walking distance from this property. And even stay is quite luxurious. We really had a good stay here and would strongly recommend this.
Day 1 – Arriving at Port City of Goa, Vasco
We reached Goa's Dabolim airport on Saturday afternoon. While we were waiting for our baggages at the baggage belt, we saw this interesting exhibit gave us "Welcome to Goa" feeling.
This Portuguese dance form is called "Corridinho" which is performed on various occasions in Goa especially on weddings. Use of rhythmic exquisite clapping and foot movements along with the colorful attire makes this dance very special.
We then hired a taxi and reached Hotel La-Paz in just 20 minutes since Vasco is the closest city from Dabolim airport. After checking out in La-Paz, we had lunch at the restaurant in the hotel itself and rested a bit since it was raining heavily. In the evening we set off with our umbrellas to explore few places by foot which were recommended by hotel staff.
Shri Damodar Temple
This temple houses celebrated murti of Lord Shiva incarnated as Lord Damodar. Lord Damodar is fondly called as "Dambappa" by Goans.
After praying to Lord Damodar, we saw some signboards leading us to St.Andrew’s Church. And we started walking in that direction.
St Andrew’s Church
This Church was built long back in 1570 and it portrays an astounding Neo-Gothic style of architecture. Simply loved the architecture, serenity and calmness of this place. This is also one of the oldest churches of the city.
We next thought of visiting Mormugao Port before it gets dark. So we hired an auto since there is no bus to this place. We were charged Rs250 and the agreement was to take us to Harbour, allow some time to explore/click pictures and drop was back to Vasco.
Mormugao Port
This is the last point of Vasco and is one of India's oldest ports.
We couldn't explore much since it was raining continuously. So we hopped onto auto and started back.
Enroute he stopped at a point called “Pilot Point”. From there you can see huge ships parked at the harbor and the shipments being sent to the ships through conveyor belts.
We were then dropped back to Vasco auto stand. Right opposite to this, we could see famous Vasco-da-Gama railway station.
We then started exploring the market area of Vasco City. We could get Pondicherry vibes here too with old buildings in Portuguese style, French Cafes.
As we were walking along, we saw Vasco’s Clock Tower beautifully lit in tricolor.
Vasco Clock Tower
This structure cannot be missed both during the day and night time since it is located in Vasco's busy market area.
We had already explored enough by now and were hungry. I looked for some good restaurants around our hotel offering good seafood and I came across “FODNI – Flavours of Goa”. Google had some great reviews of the food here. So without a second thought, we walked to this place and ordered two fish thali’s. And I must say it was too yummy. Best Sea Food Thali I ever had till date.
After this wholesome dinner, we walked back to hotel. We then called our airport driver who had dropped us to Hotel in the afternoon if he could take us to Birla Mandir and Navy museum next day. He agreed and we asked him to come in the morning since museum would take more time to explore. After sorting our plan for next day, we slept off with the satisfaction of day well spent.
Day 2 – Exploring around Vasco
We woke up, freshened up and had buffet breakfast at La-Paz itself which was really a vast buffet with lot of varieties right from continental to India and some live counters too. After a wholesome breakfast, we waited for driver at the hotel reception and he arrived at the scheduled time. We hopped onto our vehicle and set off to explore our first stop of the day – Birla Mandir
Birla Mandir
The Radha Krishna temple is constructed by Birla group and is located in the famous Bits Pilani campus of Goa. Offlate this has become one of the famous tourist attractions in Vasco, Goa. I couldn’t see any bus stop or auto-stand here. So only way to reach here seemed like your own or Private vehicle. But its worth visiting.
Naval Aviation Museum
This is India’s one and only Naval Museum which is located on Vasco-Bogmalo Road, just 6 Kms from Vasco City. This museum was built in 1998 and it displays the progressive journey of Indian Navy. Museum is planned really well. So as you take entry ticket, you will have to take the path to explore all the exhibits placed outside like huge fighter aircrafts, missiles, engines etc. I was wondering how they must have got them here since each blade, wing of an aircraft is so huge. Then we are directed to an indoor museum which is divided into two floors that explains the evolution and timeline of Indian Navy. There are restrooms available here along with a cafeteria and souvenir shop too. One can spend easily 2-3 hours here.
Japanese Garden and Sada Beach
Japanese Garden seems to be just like any other Park. There is a viewpoint and from here you get good view of the ocean.
But we saw few steps going down, and we started walking along this trail. This trail leads to Sada beach followed by Shri Durgamata Shiv Mandir. I could see that most tourists were not aware of this and were just staying on top at Japanese Garden and clicking pictures. But this trail is worth exploring. We visited the temple first and then sat on the benches in the temple premises to feel the beach vibes, waves, breeze and the silence.
After this spot, on special request our driver took us to Mormugoa Port again since we couldn’t click pictures yesterday due to heavy rains.
This was the last spot of the day. Our driver dropped us at the Vasco auto/taxi stand. Hunger cravings and we could spot Hotel Adarsh (Veg and Non-veg restaurant) located diagonally opposite to the auto stand and opposite to Vasco clock tower. We ordered Seafood Thali here too and needless to say it filled our pot bellies with the much needed food satisfaction. I became a fan of sea food cuisine here.
After a busy packed day and a wholesome lunch, we walked back to hotel for a much needed power nap. Later in the evening we set off to explore Baina beach which was again recommend by Hotel Staff as one of the famous beaches in Vasco. We hired an auto and he charged us Rs 100 just for drop since we needed some time to spend by the beach.
Baina Beach
He dropped us at the entrance of the beach and there are two temples here. Temples were lit by now and nice bhajans were being played. So we first visited both these temples to seek blessings from the deities. Post this, we just took a stroll along the beach and spend some good evening time here. This beach is calm with no noises of music from loud cafes unlike other Goan beaches. In fact, there are no food options here.
Later on we waited for bus/auto to head back but the local vendors said the frequency is not that great here and recommended us a short route by walk to reach Vasco station. We started google maps and followed the route which showed time to reach destination as 30 minutes by foot. But we didn’t feel so, since this walk took us through some old temples, churches, fishermen’s colony, some old Portuguese houses and finally railway station.
For dinner, we wanted to try some exotic food and asked one localite there who recommended Eater's Den Wine and Dine restaurant which is located right outside the station.
It was 7:30 PM and restaurant had already started getting crowded. Luckily they could find a table for us. We asked hotel staff’s recommendation and ordered seafood which was yummy too.
Next day we woke up, packed our bags and checked out from hotel since we had to head to our first Kuldevata temple – Shri Damodar Saunsthan, Zambaulim, South Goa which is on the extreme opposite side. So we had breakfast and set off to Vasco KTC bus stand to get a bus to Margao. I will be covering the rest of the details about my journey, stay, offbeat places in and around Zambaulim in my next blog.
Though Vasco city is small, it has lots to offer to quench every traveler’s thirst. People usually plan North Goa and miss to explore this underrated place. I hope my blog will compel some of you to add Vasco in your next Goa trip.
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